2 Nigerian facebook fraudsters nabbed in India

Two Nigerians have been arrested by a joint team of Delhi and Goa Police for cheating several people after befriending them on social networking sites.

The suspects identified as Chukwuma Collins, 35, and Nicodemus Obinna, 27, used to befriend people on Facebook and then ask for money to send “necessary items” to their family members in UK.

They were arrested on Friday, 30th September. They gave their Nigerian addresses as Ladipo Market in Lagos and Badagry Trade Fair Complex, Lagos.

Police said that the two used to cook up stories about the poor conditions of their family members living in western countries and ask the victims to help them with money. After receiving the money they broke all contact with the victims. Both have been involved in several cases of fraud and an FIR was registered against them in Goa cyber crime cell.

Bridget Fernandes Rai, a victim made a complaint to Goa Police, claiming to have been cheated of around Rs 8 lakh by the duo. She said that she had befriended Collins on Facebook and after a few days of chatting he started calling her.

Rai told the police that Collins started referring to her as his sister and asked for Rs 8 lakh to transfer some money and jewellery through a courier to his relatives. He claimed that the courier was stuck in legal processes at the customs department in Goa and he needed to get it delivered quickly as his wife had expired.

Rai agreed to transfer the money to his account. As soon as the money was transferred, Collins disappeared. After some time, Bridget received a call from the custom department, which raised questions regarding the parcel she had sent, and realised that she was duped.

“A team from Goa Police approached us in Delhi after a technical surveillance pointed to the role of some people operating from here. A joint team was formed to track the accused. The duo was arrested from Mahavir Enclave in south Delhi,” said Ravindra Yadav, joint commissioner, crime.

Collins and Obinna confessed to their crime and disclosed that they had cheated several others in a similar way. Three laptops, seven data cards, 36 SIM cards and 26 mobile phones, three USB pen drives, were recovered from the duo.

During interrogation, the duo claimed that they had arrived in India five years ago for business and then started cheating people using different techniques. Both accused were produced in a Dwarka court and taken on a transit remand by Goa Police.